1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a finder device. More particularly, the present invention relates to the improvement of a finder device in a digital camera capable of displaying on a display screen both an image being viewed and an image being shot.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital cameras are commonly known, which form an optical image of a subject on an image pickup device from light coming from the subject and passing through a photographing optical system, photoelectrically convert the optical image into electric image signals through the image pickup device, and display the resulting image on the screen of an image display device, such as an LCD monitor, based on the electric image signals.
As an example of such a camera displaying a subject image, a camera is known in which a half mirror is arranged in a finder optical system to guide a light beam of a subject to an image pickup device for live-view display. In this case, the image pickup device repeats the imaging operation in a live view mode to cause a live-view display on the screen of a display device (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-165730).
A technique is also known which uses another image pickup device to monitor a finder screen (for example, see the U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,022).
It is common practice for conventional single lens reflex cameras (hereinafter simply called “SLR cameras”) to superimpose multiple focus points, shooting information, etc. on a subject image in a viewfinder.
However, the camera described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-165730 is not to display shooting information and a subject image at a time on the screen of a display device.
On the other hand, when a finder screen is monitored through another image pickup device as described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,022, there may be cases where the brightness of the display in the viewfinder does not fit the brightness of the subject.